Agriculture is a large consumer of hydrocarbons fuels and fertilizers. Conversions range around 20 calories to produce 1 calorie of food. The use of industrial fixed fertilizers has and will increase yields at a high energy cost. This inhibits the natural plant micro flora CO2 relationship causing the plants to rely more on the applied fertilizers which causes imbalances in nutrient uptake and a plant's ability to control chloride uptake and pH balance. Bioactivity within the soil environment is limited by the lack of CO2, NO2 and SO2. Micro-organisms use these compounds as an energy source to digest organic matter, dissolve minerals and fix N2 from the air, breaking the N—N bond and making available various forms of nitrogen to plants.
This bioactivity is inhibited when large amounts of ammonium fertilizer are applied to the soil. Ammonium uptake by the roots causes the roots to use the CO2 from photosynthesis to make urea before transporting nitrogen to the shoots. Excess hydrogen, leftover from ammonium and carbohydrates forming urea, is secreted by the roots instead of CO2 that can feed bioactivity in the soil. Excess hydrogen makes the root zone acidic, causing problems with root growth and nutrient up take. This condition is worse in low pH soils, but can help in high pH soils if ammonium could be kept from volatilization.